The present invention relates to a latching assembly for a vehicle component and more particularly to a latching assembly operative to lock and unlock a vehicle component and retain the vehicle component to the vehicle during normal usage conditions and crash situations.
It is known to releasably attach a child seat to anchoring members, such as ISO-FIX latches or other loop members, which are anchored to a portion of a vehicle, such as the vehicle frame or floor. The anchoring members typically extend into the passenger compartment between the seatback and seat cushion. The child seats are attached to the anchoring members to secure the child seat within the passenger compartment during operation of the vehicle.
A latch is used to attach the child seat to the anchoring members. The latches are manually operated to release the child seat from the anchoring members. These latches perform adequately during normal operation of the vehicle. During a rapid deceleration of the vehicle, such as an emergency stop or crash situation, it is important to prevent the latch from unlatching. During a sudden deceleration of the vehicle, the child seat is forced toward the front of the vehicle. The inertia of the vehicle component applies force on the latch and anchoring member. It is important that the latch not deform and that the child seat not be released from the anchoring member. It would be desirable to develop a latch for retaining a child seat or other vehicle component to anchoring members of a vehicle that is economical, simple to operate, and can perform during rapid deceleration of the vehicle.
This invention relates to a latch assembly for securing an auxiliary vehicle component to an anchoring member mounted on the vehicle. The latch assembly includes a housing operatively connected to the vehicle component, and a hook member removably mounted relative to the housing. The hook member includes a hook portion for engaging the anchoring member to secure the vehicle component relative to the anchoring member. The hook member is movable between a first and a second position. The hook member is permitted to move to an unlatched position to disengage the anchoring member while the hook member is in the first position. The hook member is prevented from moving to said unlatched position while in the second position.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.